Spanning cultures, continents, and civilizations, the history of saffron in human cultivation and use reaches back more than 3,000 years. Saffron, a spice derived from the stigmas of saffron crocus plants, has been used as a seasoning, fragrance, dye, and medicine and has remained among the world's costliest substances throughout history. After saffron spread to America in the 18th c, demand grew so much that its price on the Philadelphia commodities exchange matched that of what precious metal?More...

In 2007, a potential tragedy was averted in London when two car bombs were disabled before they could be detonated in a busy district of the city. The cars and devices were recovered intact for forensic examination and both were found to contain gasoline canisters, nails, and a mobile phone-based trigger. The next day, two men drove a car laden with propane into a terminal at Glasgow International Airport and set it ablaze. The surviving conspirator was jailed for both incidents. Who was he?More...

Mahalanobis was an Indian scientist and applied statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure he used in his pioneering studies in anthropometry—the study of human body measurement for use in anthropological classification and comparison. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute and contributed to the design of large scale sample surveys. His survey methods have been used to study things like tea-drinking habits, crop acreage, and what else?More...

Quotation of the Day

I know that everything beautiful attracts love, but I cannot see how, by reason of being loved, that which is loved for its beauty is bound to love that which loves it.

Central City Opera Festival is a festival of opera, operetta, and cabaret in the town of Central City, Colorado. Performances are staged in the Old Opera House, built in 1878 and since restored to its original Victorian elegance. On opening night, "flower girls" present the audience with fresh flowers, which are thrown on stage to the cast at the end of the performance. Inaugurated in 1932, the Opera Festival was not only the first summer opera festival in the country but also the first to espouse singing opera in English, a tradition that continues. More...

cul-de-sac - Literally French for "bottom of a sack," it also means "situation from which there is no escape"; it can be pluralized as cul-de-sacs or culs-de-sac. More...

gunny - From Sanskrit goni, "sack," it is the material used for sacks, made from jute or sunn-hemp. More...

haversack, knapsack, rucksack - Haversack is from German Haber, "oats," and Sack, "bag, sack"; knapsack is from German knapper, "to bite (food)" and zak, "sack"; rucksack comes from German Rucken, "back," and sack. More...

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